Untamed
by EATnRunBandit
Summary: YULLEN: Central makes another major decision for Allen, causing the young exorcist to be suddenly transferred to another Branch. Some people are unhappy about the situation, others are overjoyed. Kanda, however, just doesn't seem to give a damn.
1. Prologue

Inspired by **Nishikawa Takanori**–san's spine shivering voice, the rest of the awesome **Abingdon Boys School** band, and one of their best new singles so far—the energetic opening for **Sengoku Basara**, **Jap**.

This story is also written to wish support for **Hoshino Katsura**-sensei, who is possibly going through a very tough time right now. As one of her devoted readers of **DGM**, I wish for her to come through this present situation safe and sound.

Finally, a dedication to the greatest characters ever created, **Allen Walker** and **Kanda Yu**. Yullen banzai!

--

∞**Prologue**∞

"Do not be dominated, do not let them take you away." -Jap, Abingdon Boys School

"Why did you want to see me?" Allen sat himself down on the couch. He was still in his uniform, his left sleeve torn straight up to his elbow and the stench of akuma blood permeating through various places of the black fabric. Timcanpy was perching nicely on his shoulder, cuddling next to his master's neck. "…Inspector," he finally concluded, eyeing Leverrier who was at the current moment sipping his tea with Victorian grace. Komui was sitting at his usual spot in his desk, his hands folded in a serious manner.

"Inspector," he said, "It'd be best if we told Allen _after_ he gets washed up and his wounds treated for. He just came back from a mission."

"Supervisor," Leverrier countered with a smile. "If one acquires information about someone else, that person would be very obliged to tell them immediately, no? I want to give Allen the best courtesy I can." He turned his smile towards Allen. "Isn't that right, Allen Walker?"

Allen didn't reply. Timcanpy curled up his tail and snarled almost inaudibly. To the white haired boy's dislike, the Inspector was still smiling his civil-like smile.

"Allen, did you know that there was a recent akuma attack in America?"

"America? No, I don't."

Leverrier blandly chuckled. "There was an invasion in the North American Branch," he explained, "and Central along the Pope himself is quite displeased with it. Many precious equipment and irreplaceable staff employees—all of them brilliant in the intellectual category, have all deceased. And do you know why that happened?"

The boy in turn felt very tense. He didn't like the tone that the Inspector was bringing out. How was this connected to him exactly?

"It happened," he continued, "because there was no force powerful enough to counterattack the akuma. And of course, there is only one being in this world that can go against the akuma created with dark matter." Leverrier raised one hand and pointed it towards Allen.

"An exorcist—powered with the heavenly bestowed gift of the light but mysterious substance, Innocence."

Allen was slowly realizing what the man was talking about.

Leverrier chuckled again. "I'm sure now, you now know what you are here for, yes?"

Komui's spectacles, reflecting the light that was shining from the incandescent lamp above them, hid his eyes from view. But his furrowed eyebrows clearly showed his disapproval and anger. He decided to take over from there.

"Allen, what the Inspector is trying to say is that Central has decided that you are to be transferred… to the North American Branch."

In sudden shock, Allen's bright blue eyes started to dull. Timcanpy comfortingly wrapped his golden tail around his white head.

The Inspector took one last sip of his earl gray.

"I suggest you get ready without delay," he advised. "You are going to be transferred to America tomorrow morning at seven o' clock sharp. I expect you to be at the science department by that time to immediately depart through the ark's gate."

This was all too sudden. Allen didn't have time to mentally recuperate as Link led him out of Komui's office.

When he looked back, Leverrier was still smiling that civil-like smile.

--

"Master Kanda! Over here!"

Kanda spotted the white-robed Finder waving towards him in front of the motel and walked towards him. He ignored the bystanders around him who were giving him curious glances and talked in a foreign language that Kanda was not very fluent in, although he did recognize the words "pretty" and "long" and "hair".

He was in Barcelona, Spain, to complete a mission of an infestation of akuma hordes. An exorcist's average and typical mission, of course. He strode towards the Finder who was eagerly waving both arms in his direction, and to Kanda's chagrin, it was Gozu—a finder that he had met on one of his missions. He remembered that mission of all missions most clearly, for Gozu always pestered him at the Order about the mission that they had experienced together at every chance he could. But it wasn't really Gozu (that bimbo) who made him remember this particular mission. No, it all had to center around that one little thing.

And that thing was Allen Walker.

The mission with Gozu in the past; Kanda had met Allen right after that mission when he came back to the Black Order. The image was always etched in his mind, the image of the Beansprout's face when he looked up at Kanda all the way up at the balcony. Always. It would never go away that annoying image.

He wanted to forget it.

Then, Kanda felt something wet and cold splash into his hair and trickled down into his uniform collar. He abruptly stopped in place as he looked up and saw an old woman on a second-story patio making loud noises in Spanish and staring down at Kanda with frightened eyes. She was carrying a wooden pail in her hands.

Gozu frantically ran up to Kanda and wiped his uniform with a handkerchief that he took out of his pocket. Kanda pushed him away and took off his uniform overcoat. The fabric was drenched with dirty water from the pail.

"Kanda, you should go take a bath in the motel," Gozu stuttered. "You can catch a cold like that."

"Shut up." Kanda eyed Gozu with disapproval. "And what kind of a man carries around a handkerchief?"

Gozu smiled goofily. "But Kanda, a handkerchief is so useful—"

"Shut up." He draped his overcoat over his shoulder and started to walk towards the motel once again. Gozu caught up to his long steps and tried to strike up a conversation.

"I didn't take you for an unlucky guy, Kanda."

Kanda glared at him. "What?"

"Well, only those kinds of incidents, like what happened to you just now, only happen to unlucky guys. And I thought you were a pretty _lucky_ person, Kanda. There has to be a logical reason for this."

"Hn? So what?"

"What were you thinking of right before that moment?"

Kanda furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you asking this," he growled.

"Please answer. This is important," Gozu insisted.

Kanda looked away from Gozu's child-like eyes. "… Hmph. Something I want to forget," he replied. "Something annoying."

"I see," Gozu said. After a moments silence of pondering, Gozu flicked up his forefinger in inspiration. "I got it! I know why that happened to you!"

"What?"

"You see, Master Kanda," he said in revelation, "it's the fates talking to you. It's the heavens sending you a message!"

The two entered the motel and walked up to the front desk. "Ha?" Kanda had no idea what Gozu was talking about.

"Nothing happens without having a meaning behind it," he said, his visage sparkling with brilliance. "It could be possible that the fates or even God himself made the akuma infest this village, make the Supervisor send you to this mission to meet me and made you walk right on this street right at the same time the woman comes out to her patio with the bucket of water in her hands planning on dumping it out into the street and _you_ had to walk right under her at the same time as she threw the water out!"

Kanda wanted to punch this guy. What a long explanation.

"The heavens are telling you to _not_ forget what you were thinking about! They are telling you to embrace your problem!"

Kanda punched Gozu in the jaw. He grabbed his key from the clerk and stomped towards his room, searching for the right number. Gozu, who was being awfully persistent, continued on blabbering nonsense (from Kanda's point of view).

"Master Kanda! You cannot ignore it! You have to face it!"

Kanda found the right door and started to insert the key. He turned the door knob and started to enter his room.

"Why are you doing this! Don't turn away from it!"

Kanda slammed the door in Gozu's face.

"Master Kanda—!"

"You're annoying. Shut up!" Kanda shouted out from the inside.

"But God is telling you something! Eh? Wait a minute. I only ordered one room. Are you expecting me to sleep outside?" He pounded on the door. "Master Kanda!"

Kanda ignored Gozu's cries and started to take off his uniform. It was still wet and disgustingly stuck onto his skin. Kanda sharply exhaled and glared at a tiny pot plant that was standing on one of the bed stands. He threw his wet overcoat over it.

"Stupid, annoying Beansprout," he muttered.

--

Haha. Forgive me. I planned on making the whole chapter thoroughly angst but when I typed in Gozu, he just turned out to be comic relief. He makes me laugh a lot. He seemed like a superstitious guy so I typed it up so that karma kicked in when Allen was announced to basically being deported to another country and somehow made Kanda involved in it as well. Like when Lenalee fought the third level akuma and Komui almost fainted, right? Same concept. Sort of.


	2. Chapter 1

Thank you for the reviews, you guys. (Smiles foolishly) They were so awesome. (Sniff) And I must say, Nusku-san, your review made me laugh so hard. I agree with it whole heartedly.

Kanda Yu! Embrace Allen! It's an order!

(I wish…)

And yes, Iruka92-san, Kanda is a sexy samurai. Ohoho, did you listen to Jap too?

Oh, and by the way Yu. (You know who you are!) Dare ga Moyashi ka! Baka!

--

Komui was too disheartened to let him go, but regrettably, he did not have enough power to change Central nor the Pope's decision.

Not even allowed to lift a finger, he crossed his arms looking as serious as could be, a rather rare sight for the sometimes aloof Supervisor. He stared at Allen's back, who was currently in front of the gate, waiting for it to fully connect. Komui shifted his eyes, using his peripheral vision to glance at the Inspector. The only hint of Komui's noticeable anger was in his furrowed brow.

Leverrier was smiling as gracefully as ever.

Komui, then having the feeling that someone was watching him, looked forward and saw the boy smiling brightly at him. Allen was smiling at him with a hint of melancholy that only people close to him can catch. Komui was one of those people.

And if there was one thing that Komui regretted other than failing to protect Allen from the injustice of Central, it would be that

Besides himself, there was no one else close to Allen that was allowed to bid him farewell.

--

∞ **CHAPTER 1 ∞**

**The (Unveil) ing**

"Master Kanda! You can't go!" Gozu gasped out.

Kanda, who was quite done with the continuous antics from the very emotional Finder, quickened his pace while putting on his overcoat—which at this current state was dry. Bystanders stopped to look as they saw an angry samurai stomp out of the hospital with a built but weepy man dragging after him.

"Shut up," the samurai barked. "The mission is over and I can finally never see you ever again."

"But your wounds aren't healed from last night's battle," Gozu stuttered, his tone clearly showing worry for the Exorcist. "You should at least stay in the hospital for three days—"

"I already told you. I'm healed."

"No way! Your wounds will take at least a month to heal!" Gozu argued.

_Huh? What is someone who's supposed to take five months to heal doing here?_

"Tch. And whose fault was that?!" snapped Kanda. "If you hadn't been in the way, I wouldn't have been injured."

"I-I'm sorry Kanda, but there was a little child in the battle fray and I had to go save him."

Kanda remembered that certain scene with disgust. He glared at the Finder. "And that _child_, happened to be an akuma."

Gozu looked down with shame. "But," he then started to say, "If he had been human and he died right in front of me, I don't know what I would do. I don't want anyone to die."

"…"

_If I sacrifice myself for them, will that satisfy you?_

_I lost everything I loved long ago._

_My heart goes out to in front of me, before greater world events._

_I can't just leave them be, so if I can, I will protect them…_

Kanda was then silent from then on, and Gozu, feeling the oppressing atmosphere coming from the exorcist also ceased conversation. The both of them continued on down the city streets until they finally reached to their destination. Or so it was supposed to be.

"Huh?" Gozu looked around in confusion. "This isn't the cathedral that we were supposed to be headed to."

"Of course not you idiot." Kanda unsheathed his katana. "This is an alley way. As if priests would be caught dead preaching here."

Gozu was now even more confused. "What? Then why are we here? And why did you take out your Innocence?"

Kanda ran two fingers over the blade and stood in stand by position. "Tch, and you call yourself a Finder. Did you not notice that someone was following us?"

"What?" Gozu turned his head around and spotted an overstretched shadow hovering over the walls of the buildings between them. A young boy was standing at the end of the shadow, smiling at the two of them.

"We meet again, Exorcist."

The Finder's eyes widened in sudden shock. "The little boy from last night."

Kanda smirked. "Hmph, he was allowed to escape last night. But right now is different." He instantly charged the moment the boy's smile distorted as a disfigured metallic figure ripped out of the child's body. A number two in Roman Numerals was etched on the akuma's chest.

"A Level Two, eh?" he thought. Luckily it came at a good time, for Kanda was starting to remember some lame crap as Gozu was talking to him.

He'll use this akuma to vent out some frustration.

--

"Stop spacing out, stupid apprentice. Pay attention to writing your log."

Lavi snapped out of his mental zone and tightened his grip on his pen. "Why of course I'm paying attention," he said while grinning, "What makes you think I'm spacing out?"

Bookman frowned while pointing to Lavi's paper. "Idiot. Your log has chicken scratch all over it."

The Bookman Junior started to panic. "Wha—are you serious? Damn. Now I have to do it all over." He crumpled his paper and tossed it into a waste basket a few feet away.

"Hmph. Serves you right for not paying attention to your work," Bookman stated.

"Aw, Gramps don't be so stingy. I'll do it, okay? Don't you worry about a thing."

"Just rewrite it already, Lavi. We don't have much time. We have a mission an hour later."

"Gotcha, Gramps." Lavi retrieved a fresh crisp paper and started to write the date and time in calligraphy. A serious expression flashed over his face as he started recording the information for this certain time and hour.

_**Date-**__ December 11, 189X_

_**Time-**__ 06:17:43_

_**Event-**__ Allen Walker transfers from Black Order Headquarters to North American Branch by order of the Pope._

Bookman studied Lavi's face as he was writing the record and folded his arms in a serious manner. "Lavi, are you close to Allen Walker?"

Lavi stopped writing and looked up in surprise. "What? Sorry I couldn't hear you? Can you say that again?"

The old man sighed and started to clean up the books on their table. "Hmph. I'm just reminding you not to space out again."

"I didn't space out, Gramps."

"Whether you space out or not, Lavi, remember who you are," Bookman lectured.

"Ugh, not this again," Lavi said with chagrin.

"Yes, this again. And do you remember Lavi, what the Inspector told us?"

"…Yeah."

Bookman whispered, so that no one in the library would hear. "It is not to be known that Allen Walker is transferring to another Branch. He is simply to be, on a very long and permanent mission."

Bookman then grabbed Lavi's paper of Allen's report and filed it in a folder.


	3. Chapter 2

I quickly uploaded this chapter for **Erendyce**-san. Sorry for the short chapter last time. Hopefully this chapter will satisfy you guys.

--

"I'm sorry" was all Komui could say when he had met up with Allen after his meeting with Leverrier. Allen was standing before his desk, as silent as could be. But afterwards he said, with a slight smile, "It was not your decision, Komui. You did all you could."

Komui looked at the boy with remorse. "… Allen."

"And… I also agree with Central's decision," he added.

Startled, Komui's hands twitched. "Allen…you agree? What do you mean by this?"

Allen's bright blue eyes started to droop. "What I mean, is that it will be better this way, although it's not the right one. I feel if I stay here any longer, the people I care about will get hurt."

The Supervisor stood right out his chair and placed his hands on his desk. "Allen, if you think you are a bother, you are not—"

"Komui," Allen said firmly, "This is my decision, and no one forced it upon me. It's fine with me as long as I can still continue on being an Exorcist—continue on exorcising the Akuma." He looked straight into Komui's dark eyes. "You became a Supervisor to protect everyone in the Order didn't you? Well, I also became an Exorcist, so I can protect the people in front of me. You have to trust me, Supervisor Komui."

Komui sat back down and sighed heavily. After a moments worth of thinking, he finally said, "Are you sure about this, Allen?"

The white haired boy smiled once again. "I am, Komui. Although… I really am going to miss everyone."

This conversation between Komui and Allen took place less than fourteen hours and twenty-seven minutes ago.

It was now one hour and nineteen minutes since Allen transferred to North America.

--

∞ **CHAPTER 2 ∞**

**(Understand) ing**

"Welcome back to the Black Order, sir," a guard said while saluting. "Your identification number, please."

Kanda wrote his number with his finger on the guard's hand. He then looked around with a frown on his face and turned his head behind him and yelled out through the luminous doorway. "Gozu! You're going to get locked out if you don't hurry up."

After a stumble and many heavy footsteps, the Finder ran through the gate and bent over while panting, putting his hands on his knees. "I… I made it. I made it."

The Japanese exorcist then turned his attention towards the guard. "Hey, was there a glitch in the system? I had to wait more than twenty minutes for the gate to activate in the Spanish cathedral."

"My upmost apologies, sir," the guard said. "There was a very important transmission that was scheduled for the Ark about an hour ago. The staff is very sorry for the inconvenience."

The guard saluted again as Kanda, leaving Gozu behind, walked down the hallway and up some stairs until he reached his destination that was Komui's office. After seeing Komui, the samurai was planning on taking a bath and finally getting his hands on Jerry's soba for brunch. He turned the door knob and entered the office, only to bump into another man, a seemingly frail person who was just about to leave in a hurry. Some papers he was carrying fell the ground in a flutter.

Considering the white robe, the man was obviously a Finder. Another clumsy one, no doubt. Kanda watched as the man frantically picked up his papers and asked, "Hey, is the Supervisor here?"

"N-No, no. The Supervisor's not here," the Finder stuttered. "He's in another meeting with the Inspector and the Generals." After picking up all his papers, he glanced at Kanda for a split second and sped out of the room.

Kanda frowned. Did that Finder just glare at him?

Pushing the thought out of his head, he walked out of the office deciding to give his mission report to Komui later and headed straight for the baths. When Kanda got there, he took off his torn uniform and boots, set Mugen down and tied a towel over his waist. Unraveling the red tassel off his hair, he stepped into the pool of steamy water. Hot water felt relaxing for him, especially after coming back from a stressful mission. But what was best of all was that there was no one else in the baths with him. It was just him, and him alone.

"Hey, did you hear the recent news?"

Kanda furrowed his eyebrows. He was alone for _five seconds_, at least.

Two men entered the baths and plunged into the water on the other side, causing some waves of searing water and scorching steam to head his way, splashing his head and hair unexpectedly. Kanda was about ready to bloody murder these two buffoons.

"Yeah, I heard," the other replied. "The third-exorcists, right?"

"Well, there's that too, but I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about Allen Walker, the cursed exorcist."

Kanda really wanted to skewer these babbling idiots with Mugen, but stayed quiet.

"Oh, come on, that kid again?"

Kanda's sentiments exactly.

"But this time, I think Central really wants to do away with this brat."

"What? Why?"

"They sent him on a really long mission somewhere in the East. I hear that he's on a permanent mission in Siberia or something like that."

"Ha. It clearly shows that those old men don't really like that kid. They probably want him dead."

"Yeah, especially since he's a traitor and all—"

"**Shut up, you imbeciles. You're ruining my bath**."

The two ceased conversation at the sudden interruption to look at Kanda—who was all the way over at the other side of the bath, glaring at them with murderous intent.

"Babbling on and on like housewives," the Japanese exorcist continued with spite. "How despicable. Your stupid gossiping is fouling up my air."

Both men frowned at the grumpy teen and drudged out of the baths muttering amongst themselves, saying, "Oh, it's _Kanda_." "Let's get out of here."

When they left, Kanda leaned against the pool wall and set his arms on the marble top. While unwinding himself, he spotted in the corner of his eye, a long mutilated scar and many punctures at the edge of the wall and the marble. He started to smirk to himself, thinking about how infuriated Komui was at damage that was done to the baths and the cost that was going to take to fix it. And since the damage was still here, Komui had probably forgotten all about it by now.

But Kanda never forgot. The day he and the Beansprout came to the baths coincidentally at the same time and started brawling over something trivial would always be engraved in his mind.

Regrettably, _any_ scene with that white-haired boy would always circulate through his mind and probably will never cease as long as Kanda was alive.

--

"Allen Walker, yes?"

Allen greeted the exquisitely big-boned woman in reply.

She smiled at the boy and offered her hand in greeting. "My name is Renee Epstein, Head of the North American Branch. Nice to meet you Allen Walker." The boy took her hand and gave her the warmest smile possible.

As the two started walking along the Branch hallways, Renee showed Allen her office, the cafeteria, and many other essential rooms that Allen needed to know about. Along the way, Link started to take notes in his black book.

"And this," she gestured to a door, "is your room."

A bit nervous, Allen walked up to the door and turned the knob. He entered the room, and he couldn't believe what was in it. His room was extravagantly decorated with velvet curtains and bed canopy. A large fireplace set with utensils—tongs and pokers and the like, all fully embellished with a luster of gold. But what stood out the most was the window. It was colossal, it's arch-like pane decorated with many shattered shiny colored glass pieces. It was so shiny that he could see his own reflection all the way from the door way. And the ominous figure behind him also.

He turned towards the Branch Head and was speechless. "Wha—"

"Is it to your liking?" she said. "You were transferred so suddenly that I thought you might get homesick so we designed this whole room—especially the window, Victorian style, just like the one in the Black Headquarters."

Allen really didn't know what to say. He was grateful for this, but…

"It's… nice," he said.

Renee smiled. "Consider it a welcome 'home' gift." A man whispered to her and she nodded in silence. "Allen," she said turned towards the boy, "It's seems that I have a meeting to go to. My men will check up on you later on to make sure you're comfortable. Have a nice stay here."

When she closed the door, the boy sat down on the mattress, but before he knew it, sank into a deep abyss almost knee deep. Timcanpy also sank into the mattress and frantically tried to fly out. Link looked on with disapproval.

"Walker, I'm sleeping on the floor like usual."

"What? But there's another bed just like this one," Allen stated.

"I prefer the floor," he replied.

Allen looked around the room once more, the lavish surroundings burning his blue eyes. To Allen, this room, sort of reminded him of his Master's tastes. Unfortunately.

"… Um, Link?"

"What is it?"

"… Can I sleep on the floor too?"

--

He started pacing around slowly at first, but after less than thirty seconds he paced around the lounge faster and faster, his eyes strained and his head in a whirl. Lenalee sighed at his antic.

"Let's just call him, Lavi."

Lavi cocked his head at the girl, his mouth distorted in anger? Nervousness? Which was it?

"I-Is that okay?" he asked.

"Eh?"

"It's okay to call, right? The higher ups won't bite our heads off, right?"

"I guess. My brother said it was okay," assured Lenalee.

The Bookman Junior wrapped his head with his hands in stress. "Ah! What do we do! To call or not to call!" Then his green eye spotted a dark figure passing by the lounge and he started to grin and wave. "Yu! Over here!" he called out to the Japanese exorcist. "Let's call Allen together! The more the merrier!"

"I refuse," was the straight answer and Kanda walked away.

"But Yu…" He then froze as he heard a static noise emitting from behind him. He turned around and started to scream. "Lenalee! What did you do?!"

She held her golem in her hands and smiled. "Why I called of course."

"Ah! But you did it without me!—"

"Hello? Who is this?" a voice said.

Lenalee motioned Lavi to stay silent with her finger and the both of them inched closer to the golem.

"A-Allen, is that you?" Lavi asked.

--

A phone rang throughout the room amongst countless numbers of other phone—all of them uncannily alike. There was no reply as the phone consistently rang and rang for moments upon time until the door swung open and a large figure jumped into the room.

"Yes, yes. I am coming!"

The hand picked up the phone and started to greet the caller. "Yes? This is the Earl of Millennium speaking."

A bit of silence and some muffling occurred. The Earl nodded his head.

"Oh? Yes, yes. I see. Thank you for the information. Yes, I will wire the money to you right away. Yes, yes. Try to find out more now, dear. Yes, goodbye."

The Earl set the phone down and he started to sigh. A pink umbrella quickly flew to his side.

"Master Earl, you really run fast, rero," Lero said while panting. "Eh? What is wrong, rero?

The Earl grinned. "Oh, nothing much my sweet Lero."

"Really, Master Earl?"

"Yes. It's just a black and white sheep straying from its established pasture. Nothing more, nothing less."

--

So…you guys. What did you think of this chapter? Think I rushed a bit?

By the way, Allen might _seem_ comfortable in North America now, but is he really?


	4. Chapter 3

Sorry for the late update. Plus, a colossal thank you to: **Nusku**, **Zenbon zakura**, **MitarashiiDango**, **Erendyce**, **Knux33**, **Kawaii no jutsu**, **SilentKiller1**, **MidnightEmber**, and **Marufu-chan**.

Your reviews always make my day. Thus, here is chapter 3 of Untamed.

Enjoy.

--

When Lenalee had dialed the call to Allen, Lavi felt his heart stop beating.

What was he supposed to say?

It had been quite a while since he and Lenalee had spoken with the boy. It was already sad enough that neither him, Lenalee, nor anyone else was allowed to see him off when he had transferred to the North American Branch.

But Lenalee didn't know this fact. He took a secretive glance at the girl, who was eagerly waiting for the call to get through to the golem with increasing delight.

He wished more than anything to tell her and everyone else the truth, but he was not allowed to speak a word of the matter to anyone. Besides him and Bookman, Supervisor Komui, the Inspectors, Central, and the transferee himself, no one else was to be informed about the young exorcist's unexpected transfer.

They were only told of a 'permanent' mission that the boy was undertaking in an unknown location in 'Siberia'.

Just what exactly was Central planning?

"Hello? Who is this?" he suddenly heard the recipient ask. The call had finally come through. Lavi literally jumped off his feet and dashed to the golem's speaker. He gulped nervously. "Allen? Is that you?" Lavi replied, his emerald eye glistening with sheen. Lenalee was just as eager as the red head and bent forward to hear the voice more clearly.

"Allen," she said, "Can you hear us? Are you okay? Are you cold? I hear it's really cold in Siberia. Hello? Allen?"

Her only reply was silence, accompanied with a jolting static screeching from the golem's speaker.

There was no voice to reply to her many unanswered questions.

--

∞ **Chapter 3 ∞**

**(Unsettling)**

He inserted his fork into the corner of the brightly embellished cake and cut out a precise portion with a knife in his other hand and popped the pastry into his mouth. His scarlet eyes continuously meandered left and right, and up and down on the pages of his black book resting on the surface of the cafeteria table.

"Link, the atmosphere is a bit heavy, don't you think?" a voice across from him asked. The blonde raised his eyes to look in front of him. The boy, Walker, was staring back at him—looking somewhat disturbed. Link shifted his gaze towards the greater area of the North American Branch cafeteria, only to meet with the many other pair of eyes glancing at the two, but quickly turned away when they saw the Inspector looking at them. He turned again to the white-haired boy and his golden golem, narrowing his eyelids in indifference.

"Heavy, you say?"

"Yeah, just a bit," Allen replied, while munching on a chicken leg. The Inspector looked on with scorn. "It feels like people are staring at us."

Link turned his head, and indeed, people were staring at them. The people in the cafeteria—realizing that they were caught in the act, started to laugh awkwardly and talk enthusiastically with the people next to them. Others ate the food in front of them with gusto… even though there was absolutely no food on their plate.

Allen sighed. "It's probably because of my white hair, isn't it?" he said, tugging on one of his ivory side bangs. The other begged to differ.

"From my point of view," Link stated, "these people are quite intrigued with your… diverse choice of foods." He glanced at the mountains of food surrounding the young teen. "… Although, diverse, isn't quite the right word for it."

"Eh? You really think it's that much?" Allen looked up at his food, eyeing a delicious-looking mango pudding swaying dangerously at the summit of the victual mountain. "Actually, I ordered less than I usually do."

Link didn't know what to say. That landfill of meat (and nothing _but_ meat, and some delicacies) was less than usual? He was surprised that the boy didn't grow obese yet.

"Truthfully," Allen admitted, "the head chef over here is a good cook, but he only knows how to make American food and some European entrées, not Asian cuisine." The boy chewed slowly after biting an over-sized hamburger. "He's never even heard of mitarashi dango before. When I asked him for some, he asked me if that was some kind of animal feces."

Link thought that was extremely obscene. Especially for a conversation during a mealtime.

The Exorcist looked down at his bowl of clam chowder and stirred around the pieces of boiled potatoes with his spoon. Timcanpy paused from his munching of steak to encouragingly tap his wing on his master's head.

"I really miss Jerry's cooking."

Allen looked up at Link.

"You do too, don't you?"

Never turning his eyes from his book, the blonde popped another portion of cake into his mouth. After carefully chewing and swallowing, he turned the page. "What makes you say that, Walker?"

"… Nothing much," the boy said. "Other than the fact that you used your authority to your advantage and commandeered the kitchen to your will and baked your own cakes, am I right?"

"…"

"Right?" Allen persisted. Timcanpy flapped his wings in agreement and grinned at the Inspector with his pearly whites. Link pretended to ignore the two and flipped to another page.

"Walker, you are contradicting yourself," he stated.

"Eh? Contradicting myself? What's that supposed to mean?" the boy wondered.

Link cleared his throat. "You say that the cook does not know how to cook any Asian food, yes?"

"Yeah? So?"

"Then why do you have a plate of soba in front of you?" he said while motioning towards a plate of buckwheat noodles and a bowl of soba _tsuyu_ on the table." Is that not considered an Asian food?"

"…"

"Pray tell me how an American chef who does not know how to cook Asian cuisines happen to conjure an Asian entrée such as soba?"

"…"

"Well, Walker?"

Allen strained his eyes at the Inspector. "Link?"

The Inspector raised his eyes from his book. "What?"

"Don't push it."

--

"Give me the usual," he said to the head chef, his side leaning against the countertop. The other gave out a shout of affirmation and soon brought the man his plate—a neat collection of buckwheat noodles in the middle, accompanied by a few pieces of tempura shrimp, a small bowl of soba _tsuyu_, and a cup of green tea. Kanda said his thanks and was about to grab his tray, but was interrupted by Jerry, for the chef was in the mood for some small talk with the ever frowning Exorcist.

"Kanda, you should really eat some more; put more meat on your bones," Jerry exclaimed. He waved his soup ladle around and pointed it at Kanda's chest. "How about some chicken while you're at it, hm?"

"No thanks. I don't like greasy," was the simple answer from the Exorcist.

Jerry didn't want to take no as an answer. "Are you sure? Okay, then. How about ham? Or turkey?"

"A no is a no," Kanda said while frowning.

"Beef? Pork? Lamb? Mutton?" Jerry exhaled in exasperation. "Venison?" he said in an almost pleading like voice.

"No." Kanda raised his eyebrow. What was with all the meat?

Jerry sighed. "Well, a soba lover will always be a soba lover," he said. "But why does nobody want meat today? Usually he's the one that eats my meat recipes but since he's gone, now there won't be anyone who'll eat so much meat in one sitting. Even though me and my men woke up extra early this morning to cook so much meat for the meals today." Kanda took a glance behind the kitchen counter and felt his eyes widen in astounding alarm as he beheld the sight of the many mounds, consisting of any meat imaginable, each and every one of them sitting in their own plate or bowl, stacked up in a neat and an organized fashion. It was animal protein galore.

Jerry sighed again. "What am I to do with all this meat?"

Seeing that the chef was preoccupied in his thoughts, Kanda grabbed his tray and walked towards one of the unoccupied cafeteria tables. "There was no one who ate like him. I'm going to miss that cute boy," Kanda heard Jerry say as he set himself down in the seat. The Exorcist frowned and grabbed for his chopsticks. After dunking a few noodle strands into the _tsuyu_, Kanda was about to put it in his mouth until—

"Hey, did you hear?"

Kanda grimaced. The Finders sitting at the table behind his was gossiping, like Finders always did.

"Yea, Allen Walker, right?"

"I heard that boy was sent on a mission—"

"Siberia, I hear—"

"Serves him right, he's the enemy after all—"

"Central made a good decision—"

"He might kill us all—"

"Sh—stop. Kanda's behind you."

"He's glaring at us."

One of the Finders turned around and frowned in disgust as the whole Finder posse saw Kanda—the dreaded Exorcist, sitting behind them, his head turned and his dark eyes glaring at them with murderous intent.

"When will you wimps ever _shut up_?" he growled.

Kanda hated them. He despised gossiping and useless chatter. But what he hated most was all the talk about that brat. No one ever seemed to shut up.

Allen Walker this. Allen Walker that. Just shut up about him already.

When will everyone stop talking about him?

"How pathetic," he continued. "Instead of insulting other people, why don't you all look at yourselves? You're not so great yourself, you bastards. And meal times are meant for eating, not for chattering your mouths away. One more word out of you people and I'll cut off your tongues. You won't be able to eat another bite then, will you?"

The Finders stood up from their seats and clenched their fists. "What was that?! How can you talk to us that way!"

"Ha? So you want a fight now?" Kanda said, and also stood up. "Bring it. I'll kick your asses."

Then, a cluttering noise echoed from behind the Finders and everyone who was witnessing Kanda's and the Finders' almost-fight scene turned their heads to see one lone Finder nervously picking up a fallen tray with spilled food, while at the same time professing his apologies over and over. Kanda eyed the clumsy man cleaning up his mess and something within him clicked as soon as he saw that face and extremely frail body, accompanied with a splatter of clumsiness.

Kanda miraculously remembered, for reasons unknown to him. That Finder was the very same Finder he bumped into when he had entered Komui's office earlier that day. Kanda looked down, only to meet with that Finder's gaze. The Finder was glaring at him, just like last time.

The frail man finally picked up his mess and scrambled towards the kitchen. Kanda saw that along the way, the Finder kept on taking glances back at him but would quickly turn away when he noticed the Exorcist looking back at him.

Another Kanda-hater Finder. Oh, how it scares the bejesus out of Kanda.

Kanda took one last sip of his tea and lifted his empty tray—planning on bringing it back to Jerry. He ignored the yells and gripes of the Finders and walked out of the cafeteria as soon as he gave back his empty plate.

Finders… now that Kanda thought about it, for some strange reason—

All of them, every single one of them, looked exactly the same.

--

"Alright, Walker it's time to go to the room," Link ordered to Allen as they exited the cafeteria.

"Huh? I thought I was going to go train after eating," Allen replied, trying to catch up to the fast-walking Link.

"There's no time for that. We must finish paperwork at once."

Allen grimaced. "More paperwork? What's it for this time?"

"Your transfer papers. It must be made official and sent to Central immediately."

"What? I thought we did that back at the Order?" the boy stated.

"That was the papers for 'leaving the Headquarters'. This time it's for 'entering' the North American Branch."

Allen could tell that this night would be a long night ahead of him. "What? That's ridiculous! I've never heard of such a thing!" he shouted. Timcanpy, once again, patted his master's head in comfort. Although, Allen could swear that the golem was snickering at him.

"Rules are rules," Link said.

The boy now wished he could faint out of nowhere, to get out of this mess. Why does his transfer have to be so difficult?

"But first things first, Walker," Link said, his voice noticeably lower than usual. "Did you notice?" he whispered.

Allen glanced back at the Inspector and slightly nodded at him. "… Yeah."

The sound of an extra pair of footsteps echoed through the vast hallway from behind the two.

--

I'm sorry that Kanda fights with the Finders too much. The scene where the Finders are gossiping about Allen being a traitor in the series is deeply engraved in my head and heart. You could say it's a grudge.


	5. Chapter 4

**SOME NEWS FLASH:** My DGM cosplay group this year wasn't able to participate in the **Anime Expo 2009 Masquerade** due to some cosplay preparation technicalities. Please don't mistake us for the DGM group this year, that was NOT us. Instead, we decided to participate next year in **2010** and kick some ass DGM style. So I'm really sorry to the people who waited so long. It'll just be one year more… (Definitely NO dancing involved. I mean, can you even imagine _Kanda_ dancing?)

But we did post up some pictures so if you want to see, go to my profile and click on the Live Journal link. And some Yullen pictures too? Although they are quite mild, not to mention my friend—the Kanda cosplayer, isn't a fan of shounen-ai or yaoi. (She said to say that as a condition on taking pictures with me). This is kind of random, but I saw a Yullen cosplay picture where it looked like Kanda was doing Allen against a statue. I didn't know whether to laugh or what. Kanda's "skirt" was covering the deed.

Oh, and this is also random, but I just recently started watching _**Canaan**_ and I swear the female antagonist (Alphard) is THE female Kanda version. Seriously, and maybe even the protagonist (Canaan) can be Allen's female version. (Laughs evilly) I want to write a story about that—an assassin story (sparkle). Go look it up. The anime is pretty interesting too, not to mention the opening is so awesome that I can't stop watching it. The animation is also done pretty well.

Also, Akamaru Jump is going to publish a 50 page chapter of DGM, with a COVER! But I bet you guys already new that. I'm hoping for a Kanda and Allen cover (heart).

Now enough of my chatter. Let's type a summary of the last chapter since it's been a while since I've updated.

**Summary:** _Last chapter, Allen is beginning to settle down in the North American Branch, but due to the stares in the cafeteria, the boy is led to the conclusion that he is unwelcomed there. Meanwhile back at Headquarters, Kanda is completely fed up with the situation. All everyone ever talks about is the abomination of a beansprout and he becomes frustrated to the point he picks a fight with some gossiping Finders._

_Then on the way to sort out some more paperwork, Allen and Link find out that someone was trailing them from the cafeteria. But who is the mysterious persona?_

(Laughs) What a corny summary.

--

He stretched his arms straight into the air, his seemingly tiny mouth exposed widely—his lips forming into the shape of an 'O' as he let out a big yawn. "Finally! I thought 'the awesome me' was never going to be let out of that stuffy room," the man said as his golden headwear tassel swayed to and fro. "For God's sake, why does Leverrier have to talk so damn much? Right, Komui?" He turned to the bespectacled man who was calmly walking forward, never looking away from the front with his serious dark eyes. Bak Chan shifted his gaze from the grave looking Supervisor and scratched his blonde head as he followed Komui by his side.

"I really hate that man's meetings," Bak continued with fervor. "Talking about the same subject over and over. But now that it's done, I have to go back to the Asia Branch and work again. Damn it. Hey Komui, do me a favor and let me stay a while, will you? That way stupid Fou won't be after my blood this time." He let out another grand yawn. "But first off, a bath. I think one of the higher ups maintains bad hygiene. 'The awesome me' could even smell the grime all the way across from that long table." Bak wrinkled his nose. "Yuck. Just thinking about it makes _me_ feel dirty. How about you, Komui?" He turned to Komui, waiting for an answer but received none for the other was not even looking at him—his visage still quite serious.

Bak lowered his eyelids in an indignant manner. "Look Komui," he said pointing, "There's some strange man talking to Lenalee. Holy, look at those tattoos and piercings."

Komui's head suddenly perked up and shook violently side to side. "What? Where! I won't forgive him!" His whole body trembled in panic as he shouted out in distress. "I will save you Lenalee!" Bak's fist punched against the Supervisor's shoulder. "I was lying you idiot!"

The distressed brother grabbed the Asia head's shoulders and started to shake him fervently. "What would you have done if that was for real?! Are you crazy?! Don't joke about these kinds of things!"

Bak squirmed out of his grasp and straightened his hat. "Shut up! I'm not the one that's joking around, you are, you stupid Curly!"

Komui blinked. "What? Me?"

"Yes you!" Bak shouted. "You wouldn't answer me, you twit! You wouldn't even look at me! Ignoring the 'awesome me' are we now? You think you're better than me?!"

Komui's expression was blank. "Oh? You were talking to me? Sorry. My bad." A twisted frown was wiped on the other man's face in reply. Komui twitched as he waited for Bak Chan to blow up on him, waiting for the usual retorts to spit out of the blonde man's mouth in fury. He was surprised to hear a profound sigh breaking the ice in their awkward silence. Bak's frown was replaced with a countenance of distress and weary.

"You have a lot on your mind these days, don't you Komui?"

The Supervisor froze in surprise; Bak's face was surprisingly serious—there was something in his eyes that the man couldn't explain. Komui started to laugh. "Of course there are a lot of things on my mind," he replied in amusement. "Like my sister, of course, and keeping dirty pests away from my sister—"

"Stop screwing with me! It's not about your sister right now, is it?!"

Komui could not reply.

Bak tried vainly to calm down as he continued to explain. "That face you always wear when you're serious. I don't see it too often, but I saw it during Leverrier's meeting when he talked about Walker's transfer."

"… Bak, don't talk about this right now."

"No," the other said. "We _will_ talk about it right now." Bak crossed his arms. "I know you're frustrated about Central's decision but there's no helping it is there? You can't do anything about it."

Komui's brows slightly furrowed. "What do you mean by that? Are you saying to me that it's best not to help him?"

"… That's right."

The Supervisor took a step forward towards Bak. "How can you say that? I thought you and I were on the same mind set about Allen's issues."

"You idiot," Bak said. "I still care about Walker, but I'm telling you now not to do anything drastic that will ruin your status."

"What?"

"We don't want a crazy Supervisor we all know to be replaced by Central now, do we? You're one of the only ones that support the exorcists. Don't take that foundation away from them." The Asia head grinned. "So at this time, you don't have to lift a finger. Walker will be well taken care of at the North America Branch. You can count on that."

--

∞ **Chapter 5 ∞**

**(Underground) Persona**

"Link, before we go to do some more paperwork, I need to go to the bathroom first," Allen said out loud.

"Fine, but don't take too long," Link replied in a slightly quieter voice. He glanced towards the boy—heading to the bathroom and secretly grinned at him. The Inspector nodded and walked the opposite way towards their room. Timcanpy, who was resting on his Master's white head, glanced behind them as Allen opened the door to the men's restroom, and flapped his wings when he noticed an unfamiliar shadow intermixing with a pillar's silhouette. The boy closed the door to the restroom and locked himself inside the last stall at the end.

"You think he took the bait, Timcanpy?" Allen whispered. The golden golem nodded slightly and the young Exorcist sighed. "No one must really want me here," he thought, as he stepped onto the toilet's seat to hide his feet from view. As he crouched down and waited, the boy started to think of the younger days—the days when he had to deal with Cross' stalkers (debt collectors) and fend for himself however he could. Oh, the happy adolescent days.

He stayed silent as the door to the bathroom swung open and light footsteps echoed through the acoustic room. Allen bent down and peeked through the bottom of the stall door, watching the footsteps approach his stall stealthily. He strained the muscles in his legs and mentally counted down as the person came closer and closer.

Three.

Two.

One.

He jumped over the stall using his hands on the top of the door as support and pounced on the unknown figure. I quickly grabbed the person's hands and held it in one fist while pinning the head to the ground with the other. Timcanpy fluttered in excitement.

"What are your reasons for following me?" Allen interrogated. "I don't want to hurt you so let's sort this out like gentlemen, shall we?"

He firmly tightened his grasp on the man and inspected his suspect. With straight jet black hair the length of his shoulders tied in a small ponytail and a lengthy white lab coat stretching all the way down to the man's knees, the person seemed to belong to the Science Department. But why was this man following him? Allen let go of the man's head and gently shook his shoulder.

"Excuse me, can you answer my question? Hello?" The man didn't budge, not even a struggle, and Allen, in order to confirm his suspicions, turned the person over face up. His eyes widened as he spotted cracked rectangular glasses crookedly covering closed eyelids and trickles of blood oozing down the man's cheek. The boy started to panic.

"Are you okay, sir? Say something!" he shouted.

The door to the bathroom slammed open, revealing Link with his switch blade pointing out of his sleeve. "What's wrong, Walker?"

Allen and Timcanpy simultaneously looked up at the Inspector in horror.

"Link… I think I killed him."

--

"I don't have to lift a finger? What do you mean by that?"

Bak frowned. "Don't worry about it and just worry about other duties. It's currently being taken care of."

Komui was confused. What could he possibly be saying? "I don't understand—"

"There you are Supervisor," interrupted a feminine voice. The Supervisor stopped in his tracks and awkwardly turned his head around.

"Oh, um, Secretary Fey," he stuttered. "What brings you here?" The woman dropped a thick stack of paperwork in Komui's hands. "The meeting is over," she said, "and we have a very busy schedule. Now quicken your pace and come to your office. There are more papers waiting to be confirmed by you."

Komui mentally groaned. In the corner of his eye, he saw Bak chuckling at his predicament. "Don't laugh. It's not funny."

"Oh no, it's funny alright. Real funny," he said.

"Found you, Idiot Bak!" another female voice said, only this time, it sounded angrier and less lady-like than Secretary Fey. Bak realizing who the voice belonged to ran with all his being away from the source of the vocals. A hand grabbed the back of his head and pushed him down with two feet standing on his back.

"Fou! Let go of me!" strained out the Asia Head.

"Think you can run away, eh?" Fou started stomping her feet on his spinal cord. "You spend way too much time at HQ, Idiot Bak. It's time to head back home."

"No way in hell! Let go, you twit!"

"Huh!? Do you forget that I'm older than you?! Show some damn respect!"

Komui watched as Bak was being dragged away by the Asia Branch Guardian. The blonde cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted out to him. "Don't worry about a thing! That's what assistants are for, aren't they!"

"What are you blabbering about, Idiot Bak!" Fou asked.

"None of your concern!"

As Bak and Fou left, the Supervisor walked towards his office as Fey started listing off their schedule that must be completed. He was too deep in thought to pay attention however.

Why did Bak say those last sentences? To a random person, it would have been thought that both he and Bak were lazy Heads who left the dirty work to their assistants. But that wasn't the case here. As they both despised work, they weren't irresponsible. There had to be some meaning behind Bak's words. A code perhaps, like one Sherlock Holmes would crack. He thought long and hard about it, but the more he pondered, the more his brain pulsed.

Frustration crept up on Komui. What did it mean?! Komui hadn't felt this stressed since Allen left for the North American Branch.

The Chinese man lowered his eyes. He felt responsible for what was happening to the boy and only wished he could help. But he was the middle man in the complex hierarchy of Central and the Vatican. There was nothing he could do, and he definitely couldn't just march over to the Branch and inquire about Allen's welfare. It would be very irresponsible of the Black Order's Supervisor. Not to mention that it was bad reputation for a leader to be fooling around with his power, as little power as he had. His responsibility was to take care of the staff and Exorcists in HQ. The North American Branch was out of his jurisdiction.

"Oh!"

Komui stopped walking and pushed up his glasses with his fore and middle finger. So that's what Bak meant! Oh ho. He suddenly felt a glimmer of hope shining down on him from heaven. He actually thought ahead of him, that sneaky little man. But he couldn't be too happy about this. They weren't out of the blue yet. But this way, he can keep tabs on Allen whenever he could. He could watch over the poor unlucky boy. He could—

"Supervisor. What are you fooling around for?" Fey commanded. "There's no use stalling. It is time for work."

--

Allen folded a small towel and dipped it into a bowl halfway filled with water. After squeezing out any unnecessary liquid, the boy dabbed it on the unconscious man, sponging away any semi-dry blood staining his face. Tim also helped along by fanning the man's forehead with his swirl-like tail. Allen waited anxiously to see any sign of awakening. He backed up from the man when he spotted his eyelids twitching.

"A-Are you okay, sir?" the boy asked of the injured man. A mumbling replied the Exorcist and Allen leaned in a bit closer. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite hear that."

"Mmm… shnice bo vetch mbyou… "

"Huh?"

The man's eyes shot open as he swiftly stood up, knocking Allen over, and rushed towards Link, who was leaning against the wall writing in his notebook. The Inspector's book and pen fell to the floor as the man grabbed his hands.

"Allen Walker! It's nice to see you again!" he said while shaking the blonde's hand enthusiastically. "You do remember me don't you?" Link narrowed his red eyes and shook the man's hands away.

"The Allen Walker you speak of," he explained calmly, "is over there."

The black-haired man turned around to see the white-haired boy sitting on the floor and rubbing his head while clumsily waving at him.

"Uh… nice to meet you?"

--

"I am extremely sorry for knocking you out, injuring you and breaking your glasses!" said Allen while crouching on the floor.

"No no! I am also sorry for pushing you away and mistaking the braided man over there for you!" the other cried out. The man, like Allen, was on all hands and knees, bowing down in deep apology.

Link frowned disapprovingly. "Stand up both of you. And you." He pointed to the man in the lab coat with his pen. "I would like you to show your ID."

"Eh? Why?"

"So I can have you incarcerated," he said.

The man jumped up in shock. "What did I do wrong?!"

Link scribbled something in his notebook. "Allegations of stalking, bodily harm against my charge—Allen Walker, improper manhandling of an Inspector." He raised one eye at the accused. "Would you like me to continue? Or would you like to turn yourself in to spare yourself the shame?"

Allen, noticing that the man appeared to be fainting, stood up and approached the Inspector. "You don't have to report him Link. He didn't do anything wrong," he said, trying to be convincing. "Besides, I was the one who hurt him to the point he started bleeding."

The blonde was still writing nonstop. "That is considered self defense against a stalker. But who knew a stalker who meant bodily harm did no wrong."

Allen was silent at the sarcasm. The other man however, snapped out of his partial fainting and retorted back.

"I never meant any harm, honest! That was just an accident since I wasn't able to see without my glasses," he explained. He turned towards Allen. "Really! Walker, I just wanted to see you again."

TImcanpy drooped his golden head. That man had 'stalker' pasted all over him.

The boy gained some suspicions. "I'm sorry. But who are you?"

"Don't you remember me?" the man stuttered with an Asian accent. "I'm from the Asia branch!"

Allen gaped his mouth in surprise. "Really?!"

The man nodded eagerly. "Yes yes! From the Ark incident! You remember!"

"Eh… sorry, but I've never seen you before."

--

Gawd, I sort of made this chapter choppy didn't I? With failed attempts at comedy too. What did you guys think of my OC? He's actually really important to the plot so please try not to hate him. (Hint: He's like my kin.)

By the way, doesn't Komui and Bak seem like America and England from Hetalia? Just saying.


	6. Chapter 5 Special

A special chapter that takes place during the time before Allen and Kanda eat lunch in the earlier chapters.

(Please go to my profile to vote in the poll so I can know which stories you want me to update faster. It'll help me to set my priorities straight.)

--

∞ **Chapter 6 - Special Chapter ∞**

**(Unforgettable) Memorabilia**

"You stupid old man, this better be worth my time."

The middle-aged general smiled his ever warming smile and turned the handle to his door. "Why of course it is, Yu my boy. A father and son time is never a wasteful moment."

Kanda crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. "I'm not your son." Tiedoll merely chuckled and entered his room.

"Oh dear," he said while looking around. "Where is that lamp? It's too dark to see." The Japanese exorcist restrained himself from punching the man. He couldn't believe this person's obliviousness. It almost boiled him as much as associating with that other brat did.

"You damn geezer! Clean your damn room for once!" he yelled. Almost like a chain reaction, a tall tower of papers toppled on his head. Shaking it off of him, he kicked some items around, trying to create a path for him to walk on.

The floor was barely visible—covered in papers, pencils, acrylic paints, pencil shavings, photographs (of the damn "family"), mannequins, and whatever the hell existed in the General's room. His head throbbed at the sight. It was a catastrophe that could even rival Komui's pig sty of an office.

"Hm… I know I put it here somewhere," Tiedoll wondered to himself. After a bit of shuffling and rearranging, the room lit up as he turned a switch.

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Well? What do you want?"

The old man coughed. "Yes, you are right. I must clean my room. It is getting harder day by day to find the drawing utensils I need."

"Tch, obviously."

"Yes, which is why I wanted to organize my things, but I ended up finding items that I almost forgotten I had." He lifted out a life-sized mannequin from a pile of papers. "Like this Art de Kanda for instance," he said with a proud grin. Kanda found himself staring at himself, a perfect replica of him wearing a crisp white button up and black slacks. Except it wasn't as perfect as claimed. Art de Kanda was smiling back at him, forming a peace sign with his hand. His hands warily reached for the hilt of Mugen.

"Put that away," he growled dangerously, "or I will slice that... _thing_ to bits."

"Oh, but it'd be a shame if you did," Tiedoll said. "I worked so hard on the tiny details with my Innocence."

The black-haired teen felt a headache forming under his skull. "Look, if you're just going to waste my time here, I'm going to eat."

"No wait," the General said. "What I really brought you for, was this." He gently took a framed item off his bed sheets and handed it to Kanda. The Exorcist eyed it with suspicion.

"Let me guess," he said with chagrin. "Another family portrait," he choked out. Ever since Chaoji joined their group, Tiedoll had been more eager to take family photos and paint portraits of them, in order to "create happy family memories", he called it.

The man just laughed. "Oh no, it's not, but if you want one—"

"No thanks," Kanda blurted out. He eyed the frame and the image that it held inside.

It was a realism painting. Even he had to be impressed, for the color and texture of the background seemed to suck him in, almost like he was actually standing there. But what stood out even more than the realistic setting, were the people posing for it.

Or, more like squabbling. Seemed like the two brats in the painting didn't even notice Tiedoll was sketching them.

Kanda's eyes widened as realization struck. Tiedoll in contrast, was gazing at the painting with warm brown eyes.

"Do you recognize that little boy, Yu? The one with black hair with shoulder length throwing dirt at the other? You were so adorable back then."

His grip tightened on the frame.

"We were traveling together when you were twelve, all over the world," the man continued. "And we met many people haven't we? Like that boy with the checkered jacket." He chuckled as he sucked in the display of the checkered-jacket boy wrestling with a younger Kanda in the mud. "Right after you two met, both of you kept fighting and wouldn't stop, until a policeman had to come and stop you from disturbing the other people."

"Hmph."

The General looked up. "Yu my boy? Where are you going?" he said to the boy walking out the door.

"To eat," the Exorcist said without looking back. "And don't expect me to keep this trash, understand?" he said while waving the painting in the air.

Tiedoll smiled, deep grooves forming around his mouth. "Understood." His eyes then lit as his brain configured a wonderful idea.

"Why don't we eat together," he happily mentioned.

Kanda tucked the nostalgic painting under his arm. "Go play 'family' somewhere else, you damn geezer!"

--

Link narrowed his red eyes. "Walker. I am a neat and orderly fashioned person. I do not tolerate any mess and not even—"

"-the tiniest speck of dust," Allen said while rolling his blue eyes. "I know," he said, almost as if in routine. He was unpacking his suitcase and already, the Inspector had something to criticize the boy about. Just because he packed along some food, didn't mean he was going to make a mess. Probably.

"Those snacks," Link said, eyeing the food stuffed in the young Exorcist's mammoth suitcase. "It is not healthy for an Exorcist's body. It will slow you down and make one obese."

"So I've heard, Link," Allen replied. "But don't worry; I don't gain a single pound."

"That is not what I was implying—"

Timcanpy flew up from inside the suitcase, pulling along a clothing article carefully with his teeth. Allen's eyes glazed over as he recognized that familiar bright checkered pattern. The Inspector stopped working on his paperwork to stare at the curious spectacle.

"… Walker… isn't that jacket too small for you?"

The white haired boy chuckled. He grabbed the jacket by its sleeves and held it up in the air, the sunlight from the arch window reflecting on the quilted squares. "It sure is," he said with a bright smile on his face. "Mana actually made it for me. I wore it when I was about nine or ten years old." He thought as he paused. "It's a special memorabilia."

"And you plan on wearing it _now_?" the other asked.

Allen froze at the thought. "I don't think it will fit me anymore… It shouldn't." He stared it. And he looked away. "No, it won't fit."

Link realized that Allen Walker still retained a bit of his childish spirit in him. He sat in his chair, wondering about this strange boy, his oval shaped glasses slipping to the tip of his nose.

This boy was difficult to comprehend: a complex cross-word puzzle that was unsolvable, no matter how many words you run through your mind.

Allen's smile never ceased to grow bigger as he continued to look at his old jacket. But as he looked at it even more, he noticed something, and that something made his smile falter.

"I forgot about that."

Was that statement directed at Link? He stayed quiet as the young Exorcist laid the jacket down on the floor and frowned. Allen sighed and dug out a bar of soap from his suitcase.

"That bloody mud stain is still there," he said in frustration. "I better start scrubbing."


End file.
